


A Bitter Cold

by PhantasmaDormi



Series: Mianite Awakening [5]
Category: Mianite Awakening (Mianite Fan Series), Mianite(Youtube Series), Minecraft - Fandom
Genre: Angst, F/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, unedited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-28
Updated: 2017-10-28
Packaged: 2019-01-25 10:20:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12529152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhantasmaDormi/pseuds/PhantasmaDormi
Summary: She had no way to know what would happen. No way to know what was coming. But she knew. As the trees could feel the approaching winter, the approaching season of bitter cold, of death, she too, could feel her end drawing near.





	A Bitter Cold

The bluenette could always feel the shift in the air. The way the air turned crisp, how the wind picked up a sudden edge as the days wore on. It was natural. 

She could feel a subtle crunch beneath her feet as the grass began to stiffen with each day. The greenness around her slowly dulled with every pass of the sun, the rays of light seeming more distant. The flowers that littered the space before her tree held a minute lean, one they had not had before. It was normal.

Her limbs grew sore. Her movements were becoming sluggish. A weariness settled into her chest, a fuzzy blanket of sorts. A fog formed inside her head, blurred her thoughts. Her Anger Issues faded into background noise. It was typical.

It was during these times she craved warmth. In times passed, she worked with what she had. Her first, more permanent house was settled along the beach, kept musky warmed by the ocean breeze. Her ravine home was surprisingly warm, despite it's cavernous nature. 

But here, in her wonderful tree, heat seemed to seep out of the wood. The floors radiated a gnawing cold. Each room held a haunting chill. The plants living within seemed to have curled in upon themselves, conserving what heat they had left. 

Today found her swathed in blankets, perched on top of her tree to soak in the last rays of sunlight before night fell. She had considered a dip in the gazebo, but leaving her warm bundle was not on her list of priorities. But as she heard the rustling of leaves below her, she felt she may need to disassemble her pile. 

It was no surprise when she saw purple hair peek over the tree line. In fact,  
She was beyond happy to see Botan make his way up and over. To her, it had felt like forever since she'd seen him. 

She was greeted with a small, warm smile. 

Returning it, she quietly spoke, “Hi Botan.” 

She wrestled with her blankets before opening them up with a shiver, a silent question. Pausing for a moment, he moved forward, setting himself in the space she left for him. She gently draped the edge of the blankets over his shoulder, slowly taking his hand in hers. 

With a content sigh, she murmured, “You may speak, love.” 

Adjusting to more comfortably situate himself, he let himself take a long look at her. A subtle frown found it's way to his lips.

“Are you cold?” he queried, shuffling around to get the blankets to once more wrap fully over her. 

Yawning contently, she shook her head. “Not with you here.”

Leaning back, she let her eyes close. She opened one when she heard Botan speak again, “If you're t-tired, we could alw-ways go inside.” Eying the dying sunset for a moment, she gave a small shrug.

“It's looks like our view is gone, so we may as well. Unless you want to stay out,” she responded, turning her gaze to her lover. 

With a gentle smile, he carefully untangled himself from their little pile, releasing her hand last. 

Bundling her back up, he kindly asked, “Would you l-like a lift, my Queen?”

Laughing, she lifted her arms up the best she could under her warm swath of cloth. 

“I would love one, my sweet Knight.”

~

That night she woke up trembling. A bitter cold had settled deep into her bones, clawing at her body. With a suffering breath, she drew the comforter closer to her, carefully curling up closer to Botan. He gave a sleepy mumble before draping an arm around her. A warmth seeped from where it rested.

Listening to his soft puffs of breath, she smiled.

~

A layer of frost had settled over her trees overnight. Standing at her door hunched inside a large sweater, she glared at it. Botan stepped beside her, holding out a steaming cup of hot chocolate to her.

“D-does the frost e-effect you?” He cast his gaze over the icy landscape. Her flowers had fallen to its frigid grip, stuck in an in between state of wilted and frozen. Shaking her head, she sighed, a misty cloud blowing out before her.

“It just makes me cold,” she regarded the sad state of her plants before turning to him, “Just, the suddenness of the temperature dropping hurt a little.”

He sent a concerned glance to her, before taking a sip of his drink. Shaking his head, he knocked the rest back with a grimace. Placing a hesitant hand on her shoulder, he turned to face her.

“I have a-a job to d-do. It may take me a fe-few days.” Biting his lip, he averted his eyes. “I-if all goes we-well, I may get back early. If n-not. It m-may take up to a we-eek.”

Keep her disappointment at bay, she gently took his mug from him. Setting them down, she titled her head up to peer at his face. 

Resting a hand on his cheek, drawing his eyes back to her, she quietly asked, “Do you want a goodbye kiss for good luck?” 

Looking away bashfully, a blush overtaking his face, he nodded. Lightly grabbing at his shoulder, she happily reached up her tiptoes to peck him on the cheek.

“I’ll see you th-then, my Queen.”

~

She had a furnace going, the contained fire spreading warmth to the nearby air. The fire inside was closer to a simmering coals than a real blaze, but with the flowers set up on the rack she had placed inside, it was necessary. Had she thought about it, she would have moved them inside before. To avoid their harsh end. As it were, most were truly dead, though she found a handful that could be kept.

But, she noted with worry, the small grassy area in her basement was getting colder. The whole house was. Perhaps she needed to check the exposed roots to her tree. Was there still frost on them? 

As she picked the last flower from the furnace, a sad, wilted poppy, she couldn't shake the exhaustion seeping into her. Grumbling, she slowly forced herself to her feet. She needed to check on her trees. But the heated stone felt so nice, and her eyes were growing heavy. She just wanted to sleep.

~

Taylor awoke with a start, an ache in her limbs and her head pounding. She lifted her head from what seemed to be a furnace. The fire inside had long since died and the inner warmth had been sucked out. 

For a moment, she tried to let the world stop shaking. But she was quivering, unable to remove the chill that clawed at her. 

Stumbling to her feet, she lurched out of the room, struggling to find her way to the outside. It was a long process, but she managed to grapple the last bit of ladder up to the top. 

Pushing open her stuff doors, she marveled at the sight. The moon cast a serene light across a white lined landscape. The grass beneath her tree was browned and dying, the crisp iciness draining the life from it. The leaves and bushes of the area were weighed down by the rampant frost. 

Despite the delicate deadliness of the frost, she wasn't worried. Though the grass and flowers were dead and dying, her trees were fine. They were cold, but alive. As long as she lived, they lived. As long as they lived she--

Her thoughts were broken by a single, reddish brown leaf floating down in front of her face.

At that moment, she found herself frozen by dread.

~

The plants inside her house started to die. She didn't have to look to know. As she walked through her house, desperately trying to find any blanket she owned, she could feel them withering. It was eerie.

She had the thought to snag the comforters from the guest bedrooms, but that meant taking a death march. What would happen to her if she trampled the remains of her plants? 

Instead she went through her chests on impulse. She didn't know what was going to happen. She had to leave Botan something. To make sure he didn't worry. Finally coming upon an empty book, she drug it out, grabbing an abandoned inkwell and quill on the go.

She had to write something. 

Collapsing against the chest, she set the book in her lap, trying to smooth out the bundle of blankets wrapped around her. Attempting to steady her quaking hand, she set he inked quill to the paper.

_My Dearest Knight,_

_I'm sorry I had to resort to such methods to explain my sudden.. deteriorated health. I wish I could tell you what is happening. I really do. But I can't. This hasn't happened before, in any of the memories that I have today._

_I have the sinking feeling that I am dying. Never before have my trees lost their leaves to the cold, never have they felt the gripping claws of frost digging deep into their cracks. If I'm being honest, I always imagined I'd go down in a blaze, whether it be of glory or of agony._

_I just, I just need you to know. You've made me the happiest I've been in the life I've known. It's strange, looking back, to truly see how empty, almost meaningless my life had been before you. I had slaved away for the revival of a god that disgraced me, fought for my friends that abandoned me. It's bittersweet, looking back on those good times._

_But you, you never let me down. Even from the start, when we were at hesitant odds, you found ways to help me. It's ironic, isn't it? That someone who was supposed to be the big bad of all life happens to be the sweetest, kindest person I've met._

_(The handwriting starts to become messier, as though the writer was struggling to makes the words)_

_I need you to promise me something. Well, two things really, but we’ll get to the other on a second._

_I need you to promise me, that no matter what you are accused of, no matter what Sky, or Omelette, or anyone ever accuse you of, or what they have, you don't let them push that to be who you are. Everyone here has some serious shit in their past. Ome has destroyed entire worlds, species, I've heard. Sky has the death of many hanging on him. Cypress is haunted by the death of all of those he's loved, seldom Dallas. Dallas can't free herself from the demons of her past. Death lingers in the lives of everyone._

_Heh. I guess you'd know that the best._

_You know, how deciduous trees always lose their leaves in the fall, staying dead through the winter, only to come back in the spring. How they just hibernate? I hope that's what will happen to me. That maybe, I'll just be sleeping for a few months. Then good as new, I'll be back next spring._

_… just. Just promise me this one last thing. If I… if I don't come back. Promise me that you’ll find a way to live without me._

_Until then Botan,_  
_Your Loving Queen_

Her arms felt sluggish, her legs stiff. Already, she felt her body giving up. If she had to get up. She couldn't die without seeing her grove one more time. 

She could almost hear her joints pop. The blankets, no longer bringing her warmth, seemed to constrict her movements. Her numbs fingers loosened on the edge of them and they fell to the ground with a muted thump. 

Each footstep sounded miles away, her ears feeling as though cotton was stuffed in them. She could hardly tell if her headphones were still there. It didn't matter. She didn't need to hear.

It took an effort the gods would envy to struggle to the ladder. Now to get up it. With close to frozen fingers, numb knees, and hardened determination, she forced herself to ascend. She could hardly wrap her hands around the bars, barely feel them beneath her feet. But she had to get outside. Had to see her land. 

It felt like eons before she fumbled onto the floor before her doors. On hands and knees, she stretched for the handle, unable to turn it for many tries, before it was opened. 

Breathing harsh and shallow, she crawled out, guessing her way down to the icy ground. Before her the land was covered in snow, tiny snowflakes falling to the Earth. Her trees were caked in the powdery substance, many missing the majority of theirs leaves, those remaining a dull brown. Somehow, this felt worse than her own impending death.

She let herself collapse into the snow. Pushing herself onto her back, she knew this was her last stop. With the last of her energy, she pushed her headphones off. The resulting silence was almost fitting. She came into this world hearing close to nothing, and so she would go out. 

Above her was a swirling mixture of gray, bright white flecks, and cracked, orangey brown leaves. But it was blurring out, fading. An ominous black was taking over her vision. Letting her eyes fall shut, the last thing she saw was a sad, dead leaf, floating to rest gently on her cheek.

~

He knew something was wrong. Her presence was fading, crumbling like dust. She couldn’t be dying, he told her he’d see her in a few days. Taylor hated missing his return. He even finished the job early for her. 

He had only just finished his report to Death. Only just left the room. But he should have know. He could feel the way Death looked at him, that almost apologetic gaze, one that spoke of bad news. But no. It wasn’t allowed to be her, anyone but her.

In his rush to get back to the tree, he nearly teleported into one. Still, he managed to get just a bit off from it. The crunch under his shoes was already a red flag. Snow littered the area, a cold blanket that did not fit with Taylor’s vibrant, lively grove. 

Picking up his pace, too nervous and anxious to properly teleport the rest of the way there, he tried not to notice the signs. The foliage seemed to be in various states of dying, getting worse as he drew closer. The trees seemed to crumble, leaves lost beneath the endless white and branches dotting the expanse. The further he went, the greater the dread pooling in his stomach became. 

But he wasn’t prepared to see her tree home. Once he made it past the cluttered naked branches, he could see the area where her precious jungle tree was. Or rather, wasn’t. He ran faster. When he finally reached the outer ring, he couldn’t contain his horror. The smaller trees were cracked, broken, crumbling, looking anything but healthy or living. But that wasn't the worst part.

Where her jungle tree once stood, there was but the jagged remnants of wood. Barely reaching above where the doors were, spikes and chips of wood stood, creating a wretched stump for the former tree. And Taylor wasn’t anywhere to be found. 

The doors were gone, and the hole was filled, many new ones forming where there had been solid wood. He couldn’t stop trembling. Eyes wide, he forced himself to turn away from what appeared to him as a murder scene. It was only then, that he saw a familiar blue. 

Stumbling over to it, he dropped to his knees to free it from its icy prison. Her headphones. Snow clung to them, but they held no trace of Taylor. There was nothing to be found. Clenching his teeth, he ignored the tears definitely streaking down his face.

She couldn’t be dead. She wouldn’t just… leave him. That wasn’t, she wasn’t… she loved him. He loved her. He would give everything for her. Just to have her happy. To have her safe and alive. 

He let his head fall, hands clenched around her headphones. Even when he heard the familiar sounds of teleportation, he did not move. Leaves rustled next to him, and he did even look. He refused to do anything until a hand was placed beneath his chin. 

Head tilting up, Botan came face to face with Death, who held a solemn gaze. Urging him to his feet, he took one of Botan’s hands, gently removed from the headphones, and placed in it a book. As he looked down, Death hummed.

“Remember Botan, my soldiers are forever.”


End file.
